Hay-stacker.



No. 809,538. PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906. A. M. & G. E. STEVENS. HAY STAGKER.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 9. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906.

A.-M. & G. B. STEVENS.

HAY STAGKBR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a, 1905.

I 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ZWSSGS, 4. W7.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

ABNER M. STEVENS AND GEORGE E. STEVENS, OF MELVERN, KANSAS.

HAY-STACKER.

Patented Jan. 9, 1906.

Application filed September 9, 1905. Serial No. 277,794.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ABNER M. STEVENS and GEORGE E. STEVENS, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Melvern, in the county of Osage and Stateof Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hay-Stackers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to portable hay-stackers of that typewhich are designed for building field-stacks of hay.

One of the objects of the present invention is to secure a stacker whichwill deliver its load centrally of the stack, to the end that a stackmay be built up in a uniform manner and danger of collapse during thebuilding because of irregular piling may be avoided, and, furthermore,that the stack when finished may be of regular outline to insure sta'bility and good water-shedding qualities.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carrier for thestacker which may be manipulated with a single rope, which will run withbut little friction or drag, be accurately guided in making its traversealong the stacker-tracks, dump its load when it reaches the end of itsupward movement at the top of the stacker, and which will automaticallyreturn to the stacker-foot after having delivered its load.

Other novel features will be pointed out in the description whichfollows hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in the several figures of which like reference-numerals refer to likeparts, and in the claims appended hereunto we will set forth thosefeatures of our invention which we deem to be novel.

In the drawings herewith, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improvedstacker, showing the carrier at its lowermost or loading position, partsof the frame being broken away for clearness of illustration. Fig. 2 isa bottom view of the carrier. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the upperpart of the stacker, showing the carrier in dumping position. Fig. 4 isa view similar to Fig. 3, showing the carrier starting on its returnmovement.

Referring to the drawings, 2 denotes the bed-sills of the stacker-frame,which are connected by cross-beams 3. At the forward end of the stackeris an axle 4, having supporting-wheels 5, by means of which the stackermay be readily moved from place to place. Rising from the forward end ofthe sill-frame above described are uprights 6, which serve to supportthe track-beams 7, said track-beams being secured at their lower ends inany suitable manner to the rear end of the sill-frame, as shown inFig. 1. To give a braced and rigid frame, diagonal trussbeams 9 areprovided, which extend from the forward transverse sill 3 of thestacker-frame to the upper ends of the track-beams 7 and serve tosupport the extreme upper end of the said track-beams. Secured at theupper ends of the track-beams 7 are the delivery tracks 10, which extendat substantially right angles from the track-beams 7 outwardly, so as togive a good 'overhang, the point of juncture between the track-beams 7and the delivery track-beams 10 being rounded off, as shown, to give acontinuous track-surface for the carrier andone without abrupt angles.The said delivery-track beams 10 are joined at their outer ends by atransverse beam 11, (see Fig. 1,) and the outer ends of thedeliverytracks are tied to and supported from the main frame by means ofdiagonal truss-beams 12,which beams may be pinned or secured to thediagonal beams 9 at their crossing-points substantially midway theirlength and at their other ends are secured to the uprights 6, as shownin Fig. 1. This construction insures great rigidity of thestacker-frame, for it will be observed that by the arrangement oftrussbeams 9 and 12 a substantially X-shaped truss is secured which veryeffectively braces the stacker -frame. Furthermore, this arrangement ofX-truss gives the upper end of the stacker an overhang, so that the haywill be dropped by the carrier, hereinafter to be described,at a pointsome distance from the forward end of the sill-frame, and thus we areenabled by the use of our improved stacker to build up a symmetrical anduniform stack.

The carrier, which is shown in bottom plan in Fig. 2 and in twodifferent positions on the track in Figs. 3 and 4, is substantially L-shaped and is made up of a main sill 13, having upright arms or slats 14and runner-beams 15, which are arranged in pairs on each side of thecarrier, so that they straddle the trackbeams 7 when in position on thestackerframe, said runner-beams 15 having cross boards or slats 16 toform a bed for the load. The said carrier is preferably provided at itsrear end with rollers 17, which are mounted on each side between andbeneath the runnerbeams 15 and normally ride upon the trackbeams 7 asthe carrier travels up and down the stacker-frame, these rollers beingof considerable size and forming the main supporting means for thecarrier during its travel. The carrier is also provided with a pair ofsmaller rollers 18, mounted between the runner-beams 15 at their forwardends, said rollers 18 being preferably mounted on the upper side of theeams 15, so that the said beams may drop sufficiently to straddle the.track-beams 7, and yet the carrier will be wholly sustained by therollers 17 and 18, placed on the under and upper sides, respectively, ofthe runnerbeams. In order to insure maintenance of the carrier-frame inalinement with the trackbeams of the stacker, it is preferably providedwith projecting guide-pieces 19, carried by the inner runner-beams 15,so that when the carrier is in position on the track these guides 19project between the trackbeams 7 of the frame and aid in holding thecarrier in proper position and direct it as it travels along the tracks.The said guides 19 are preferably wedge-shaped or pointed at their lowerends, so that they will readily enter between the track-beams 7 as thecarrier tilts from one position to the other during its operation.

The carrier is preferably so constructed that the arms 14 willoverbalance the runnerbeams 15 and bed when the carrier is empty and nopull is being exerted on the draft appliances, (presently to bedescribed,) so that when the loaded carrier tops the inclined tracks ofthe stacker-frame and dumps its load it will as soon as it is emptyautomatically tilt backwardly and ride down the trackbeams 7. (See Figs.3 and 4.)

Secured to the carrier is the single draftrope 20, by means of which thecarrier and its load are drawn up the track-beams 7 of the stacker, thisrope 20 passing over a pulley 23 on the cross-beam 11 of thedelivery-track and thence to a second pulley 21, secured to the axle 4.

In operation the carrier when in its lowermost position, as shown inFig. 1, is loaded and then by means of the draft-rope 20 is drawnupwardly along the track-beams 7 until it reaches the top of the stackerat the point of juncture of the track-beams 7 and the delivery-trackbeams 10. At this point, by reason of its load and the pull upon thedraftrope 20, the carrier will automatically tilt to the position shownin Fig. 3 and deliver its load, the guides 19 striking the stop-bar 22,spanning the delivery-track 10, and, stopping the carrier in theposition shown, cause the hay to slide off and be delivered to the stackbeneath. the overhanging delivery end of the stacker. been delivered theheavier arms or upright slats 14 of the carrier will overbalance therunner-beams 15 and the carrier will automatically tilt to its normalposition and run backwardly down the track to loading position, therollers 17 riding down the tracks 7, while the rollers 18 will ride upthe tracks 10 and over the rounded top of the meeting tracks, as shownin Fig. 4.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have produced a stacker whichis extremely simple in construction, eflicient and automatic inoperation, one in which by the use of but a single draft-rope we areable to handle and manipulate the carrier in such manner as to producethe necessary movements thereof, and one which will form a symmetricaland uniform stack.

We have of course shown and described a particular embodiment of ourinvention herein; but it will'be understood that the construction may bevaried to a considerable extent without departing from the spirit of ourinvention, and we do not, therefore, limit ourselves to anything shownor described except so far as-we are limited by the prior art to whichthis invention belongs.

Having described our invention,we claim 1. In a hay-stacker, thecombination with a sill-frame, of inclined carrier-tracks supportedthereon, delivery-tracks at the upper end of said carrier-track, and anX-shaped truss-frame supporting said delivery-tracks.

- 2. In a hay-stacker, the combination with a sill-frame, of uprightscarried thereby, overhanging carrier-tracks secured to said sillframeand uprights, delivery-tracks at the upper ends of said carrier-tracks,and an X- shaped truss-frame supporting the upper end of saidcarrier-tracks and said deliverytracks.

3. A carrier for hay-stackers comprising an L-shaped frame havingrunner-beams which straddle the track-beams of the stackerframe.

4. A carrier for hay-stackers comprising an L-shaped frame havingrunner-beams, supporting-rollers carried by said runnerbeams, and guidesprojecting from said runner-beams to hold the carrier in position on thetracks of the stacker-frame.

5. A carrier for hay-stackers comprising Immediately the load has anL-shaped frame, and projecting guides on the bed portion thereof, whichenten between the tracks of the stacker-frame and guide the carrier inits movements thereon.

6. A carrier for hay-stackers comprising an L-shaped frame havingdownwardly-projecting wedge-shaped guides adapted to enter between thetracks of the stacker-frame and hold the carrier in position thereon.

7. A carrier for hay-stackers comprising an L-shaped frame, runner-beamsadapted I set our hands in presence of two subscribing to straddle thestacker-tracks, supporting- Witnesses.

rollers on the under side of said runner-beams ABN ER M. STEVENS.

at the rear of the carrier, and antifriction- GEORGE E. STEVENS.

rollers on the upper side of said runner-beams Witnesses:

at the front. A W. O. STEPHENS, In testimony whereof We have hereuntoASHER SMITH.

